Organizing a Classroom Library

Gather children’s literature. Some ways to get books for your classroom: through bonus points earned from book clubs, garage sales, thrift stores, used book sales at a local library, donations from students. Be sure to gather a good variety of books including various reading levels, fiction and nonfiction, picture books and chapter books, and a variety of genres.

Place a library pocket on the inside cover of each book. In each pocket put an index card labeled with the title of the book (typed on computer labels or handwritten).

Categorize your books into groups. These are some of the the classifications I use:

fictional picture books

fictional chapter books

poetry

jokes and riddles

alphabet books

biography

sports

plants

animals

dinosaurs

weather/seasons

health/human body

geography

geology

space

ecology/environment

folk literature

holiday/seasonal

historical fiction

historical nonfiction

miscellaneous nonfiction

I also pull out popular series books and put those in baskets of their own.

Designate a different colored sticker dot for each category and label each book with sticker dots.

Place each category into different plastic baskets or tubs.Label the outside of the baskets with the name of the category and the colored sticker dot. Click here to download book basket labels from 3rd grade teacher Beth Newingham’s website.

Arrange baskets or tubs on shelves within easy reach of students.

Make a sign-out chart.Glue enough library pockets for each student in your class onto poster board. Label with student names or mailbox numbers. Laminate the chart and cut slits in each pocket.

Train students to sign out booksby placing the title index card in their individual pockets on the book sign-out chart after selecting a book. When returning books, students remove the index card from the chart, replace it in the book, and put the book in a collection basket.

Choose class librarians. These students will be responsible for returning books to the correct baskets using the sticker dot labels on the books and baskets to help them.

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I would like to thank you for sharing this information. I am such a neat freak and love anything that helps to make my organization system better. Here are some methods and information I use. Click Here